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Friday, 10 July 2015

Jaitapur Atomic plant: Need of the hour

For India, a
country which is currently aiming to be the global hub for manufacturing,
competing with China, atomic power plant like the one proposed in Jaitapur is
the need of the hour. However, political parties are trying to use it to gain
political mileage & taking stands to oppose each other. Locals are opposing
the project strongly. Most common question raised by the locals is, “Why Jaitapur?
& more importantly why a nuclear power plant when there are alternate
sources of energy in abundance”. No one is considering the other side of the
story. In current turbulent times of world economy, there is no alternative to
industrialization if we are to become a sustainable economy. Power plant would
lead to the development & growth in the region & thus there is no
alternative to projects like Jaitapur Power plant.

Constructing the
large scale power plants & running them efficiently will require huge
commitment from the government. However, we currently do not have such large
funds available with us. At the same time multinationals from Russia, France,
US have shown tremendous interest in building large power plants in India. If
we keep these multinationals at the bay we may be missing out on 3 – 5 Lacs
crore worth of investments in India, which our country currently cannot afford.

Other aspect of
Atomic energy, national security is also equally important. India is surrounded
by nations with atomic warheads & relationships in spite of repeated
efforts haven’t really been in best of the shapes. In such a critical case,
unless atomic warheads are destroyed on global scale retaining capability for
national security & defense is essentially inevitable. In the absence of a
strong nuclear energy program research & development for nuclear warheads is
not possible.

Why is there a
strong resistance to nuclear energy? Following are major perceived threats on
global platform

1. Potential global
destruction that atomic warheads can cause.

2. Radiations
that can cause various complications & threat is possesses to living
beings.

3. Environmental
issues.

Advanced research
has been going on for considerable amount of time for effects of Radiations
& how best to keep radiation levels to acceptable levels. International Commission on Radiation
Protection (ICRP) has been working on research with support from across the
world.

Striking the
right balance between environment & developments is extremely delicate
task.

In case of Jaitapur, though
the number of people standing against the project is small, it is not
negligible. Everyone has been talking about the radiation & ill effects
that it brings to the environment the real concern for common man is different.
For politicians, it is an opportunity to take on their opponents & to
showcase their might, people who are not even qualified to talk about petty
issues are discussing atomic energy & trying to link its impact on
livelihoods of the locals.

For locals who may have to
relocate are worried about their social standing. For businessman community,
the challenge is different. For them development would mean increased wages to
workers. For farmers, they are worried about effect of radiation on the crops,
which traditionally have been the source of earning for majority of population
in the region. Fishermen are worried about the waste being disposed at the sea
leading to changes/ relocation of marine species to deeper seas. While these
concerns are perfectly valid for the common man, there is no basis for assuming
all of this will happen with a power plant starting. Norms for erecting &
commissioning of such large establishments are stringent & non-compliance
has severe penalty associated with it.

Power plant would require
the locals to relocate from the area, which is the biggest concern that the
locals currently have. Accepting such a change is not easy. Only expectations that
the locals currently have is to get the right price for the land which would be
forfeited & relocation into a well-planned & developed premise. Other valid
concern is relating to employment opportunities in relocated area. There is
nothing wrong with this expectation & there is no reason why government
cannot meet this expectation. The only challenge that remains here is, the
right price for selling land is perceived value. Each individual would have
different expectations on this part & arriving at a consensus could take
considerable time.

If these concerns are
addressed by giving a rational explanation, there is no reason why people would
oppose such developmental projects. NPCIL & government very recently
realized the importance of engaging with locals to make them understand the
project in layman terms addressing their concerns.

DAE New
Chairman- R.K. Sinha said, “NPCIL's would ensure neighborhood development
program before this plants starts commercial operation and neighborhood
development scheme implemented as part of the Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic
Development and transformation of the quality of the life of the neighboring
population.”

If government
works in a true sense to understand the concerns of the locals & address
them there is no reason why Jaitapur cannot be commissioned. Having said this, ability
to respond quickly & efficiently in case of any emergency post the power
plant is commissioned is altogether a different topic & needs to be
evaluated in detail considering the challenges faced during recent times in
Japan when power plant had reached a critical level & shutting down the
plant was a challenge.